Meatloaf Muffins Stuffed with Mozzarella

Meatloaf Muffins Stuffed with Mozzarella are wonderfully juicy, cheesy, flavorful and on your table in less than 35 minutes!

This Meatloaf Muffins Recipe will be your family’s new favorite way to devour meatloaf! These Mozzarella Stuffed Meatloaf Muffins are packed with spices, the perfect amount of veggies, oozing with melty mozzarella cheese and smothered in sweet, spicy, tangy BBQ Ketchup Glaze!

Early January my mom came over so we could pick out our family “New Year’s” card. Each year at Christmas we take our family “New Year’s” picture because it is the only guaranteed time of the year the Fam is all together (one brother living in Utah, another in New York). While she was here, the aroma of these delectable Mozzarella Stuffed Meatloaf Muffins was wafting from the oven. Very distracting to our goal. As soon as their perfection came out of the oven, we couldn’t stop eating them.

Thankfully, I had doubled the batch, so I was able to send her home with a dozen and she was able to drop them off at a friend’s house who was not feeling well. My phone lit up with grateful texts from the receiving family that they were “amazing” and that the two-year-old repeatedly chanted for “more meat!” “more meat!”

Now, I have to be honest. I have not always been a meatloaf fan. Too much meat. Not enough texture. Not enough spice. So when I saw Rachel Ray’s idea of “meatloaf muffins,” I loved the idea of the perfect amount of meat that bakes evenly all over so they remain incredibly moist. I could add texture and spice! And add I did…

Not enough spice? These muffins are oozing with garlic, beef bouillon, paprika, parsley, cumin, Worcestershire Sauce and a splash of lemon. And that’s just in the meatloaf muffins. Problem solved.

The muffins are further slathered with a delectable sweet, tangy and as spicy as you like easy mixture of barbecue sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard and hot sauce. I love this glaze!

This meatloaf muffins recipe isnot only incredibly delicious, but incredibly easy, making them the perfect family meal that everyone craves. They also can be made 100% ahead of time so now you can have them on your table in less than 25 minutes. Great news, especially once you taste their deliciousness and realize how impatient that can make you for them to be IN-YOUR-MOUTH.

Meatloaf Muffins Stuffed with Mozzarella are wonderfully juicy, cheesy, flavorful and on your table in less than 35 minutes! This Meatloaf Muffins Recipe will be your family's new favorite way to devour meatloaf!

Votes: 0 Rating: 0

Rate this recipe!

Prep Time

10minutes

Cook Time

20minutes

Servings

meatloaf muffins

Ingredients

12muffin/cupcake tin liners

3mozzarella stickseach cut into 4 even pieces

Meatloaf Muffins

1poundslean ground beef

1/2cupItalian style bread crumbs

12saltines saltine crackers, crushed

1/2onion, roughly chopped

1/2green bell pepper, roughly chopped

1rib celery, roughly chopped

1small carrot, peeledand roughly chopped

2garlic cloves, peeled

1tablespoonsbeef bouillon granules

1/2tsp EACHpaprika, dried parlsey, pepper

1/4tsp EACHground cumin, salt

1tablespoonlemon juice

1egg lightly beaten

2teaspoonsWorcestershire sauce

BBQ Ketchup Glaze

1/2cupketchup

1/2cupbarbecue sauce

1tablespoonyellow mustard

3tablespoonsbrown sugarmore to taste

1-3teaspoonshot sauceoptional

Prep Time

10minutes

Cook Time

20minutes

Servings

meatloaf muffins

Ingredients

12muffin/cupcake tin liners

3mozzarella stickseach cut into 4 even pieces

Meatloaf Muffins

1poundslean ground beef

1/2cupItalian style bread crumbs

12saltines saltine crackers, crushed

1/2onion, roughly chopped

1/2green bell pepper, roughly chopped

1rib celery, roughly chopped

1small carrot, peeledand roughly chopped

2garlic cloves, peeled

1tablespoonsbeef bouillon granules

1/2tsp EACHpaprika, dried parlsey, pepper

1/4tsp EACHground cumin, salt

1tablespoonlemon juice

1egg lightly beaten

2teaspoonsWorcestershire sauce

BBQ Ketchup Glaze

1/2cupketchup

1/2cupbarbecue sauce

1tablespoonyellow mustard

3tablespoonsbrown sugarmore to taste

1-3teaspoonshot sauceoptional

Votes: 0 Rating: 0

Rate this recipe!

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together BBQ Ketchup Glaze ingredients. Taste and adjust with more brown sugar for sweeter or more hot sauce for spicer. Set aside.

Add roughly chopped onion, green bell pepper, celery, carrot and garlic cloves to your food processor and finely chop. Add to large bowl along with the remaining Meatball Muffin ingredients and mix until well combined.**

Line a 12-muffin tin with muffin liners and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, fill measuring cup, add a mozzarella piece to the center and roll into a ball and place in muffin liner. Repeat until muffin tin is filled.

Evenly top each meatloaf muffin with BBQ Ketchup Glaze.

Bake meatloaf muffins 20 minutes. Cut open 1 muffin to ensure it is cooked all the way through. Continue to cook if meatloaf is not fully cooked through.

Let stand 5 minutes then serve warm.

Recipe Notes

*You MUST use lean meat or grease will overflow the muffin tins. **You want meat mixture consistency to be moist but hold it’s shape. It should not be crumbly-dry or runny-wet. If too wet, add breadcrumbs. If too dry, add milk. ***You can make these meatloaf muffins 100% ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. When time to bake, take them out of the refrigerator and let sit on the counter as you preheat your oven. Bake as instructed.

I made this recipe last night for dinner. I used lean, grass-fed ground bison. It was wonderful! So tender and moist as well. I turned the oven down to 400, and it still cooked within 25 minutes. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

Awesome recipes and photos. I’m so glad I found your site through a Pinterest photo (of your stuffed meatloaf muffins, can’t wait to try them). I wish you and yours the very, very best. As a fellow survivor of multiple medical… um… adventures… I sense that we share a certain sparkle-still-on-it appreciation of the world. So much of the little stuff — those day to day irritants — just falls away when we can let it go. Which makes a lot of room in the heart for joy. Like you, I’m blessed to have found my best friend and soulmate, who has been with me every step of the way now for 29 years (25 married as of Aug 18!). Anyway, I just wanted to reach out and send a hug your way. Thanks for being exactly who you are, and for sharing so generously of your self with others. tigger, Haines Alaska

Welcome to my site – I am so happy you found me as well and thank you so much for reaching out! You sound like such a wonderful, optimistic, grateful soul that only medical “adventures” can bring 🙂 I am so happy you have found your soul mate as well and congratulations on your anniversary! (My parents anniversary is on the 18th as well 🙂 ) God bless you and yours!!

I just found your recipes — they all look wonderful — can’t wait to try them. You mentioned that your mom used to make porcupine meatballs. My sister used to make these and we’ve lost the recipe. Would you have it and be willing to share it? I’d love to try them again. Thanks for your consideration!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

By submitting this comment you agree to share your name, email address, website and IP address with Carlsbad Cravings. This information will not be used for any purpose other than enabling you to post a comment. *